Friday, 20 June 2014

The Road Safety Fund is seeking private sector donors to support a major
new campaign, led by Save the Children and the AIP Foundation, to protect children on Thailand’s
roads.

Traffic accidents
kill more than 7 children a day in Thailand, injuring or disabling almost
200. Wearing a motorcycle crash helmet can significantly reduce the risk but
just 7% of the 18 million children that travel as passengers on the back of an
adult’s motorcycle do so.

Save the Children and the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF), together with other global
and regional experts in children and road safety, have started the 7% project;
a nation-wide campaign to increase helmet use and save lives, with initial funding
support from the FIA Foundation.

Working together
with teachers, parents and children, in its first year the campaign aims to
create an integrated grassroots offline and online community to mobilise
schools to feature motorcycle helmets as a permanent part of the school
uniform.

As the campaign
matures, the 7% project aims to expand beyond schools to include all
destinations in a child’s daily commute. Bringing on board government agencies,
corporate partners and media together with the strong offline and online
movement, the campaign will work to ensure that all children will be wearing
helmets every time they travel as a passenger on a motorcycle.The first phase is a competition
to design a logo and slogan for the awareness campaign.

Additional
private sector donors are sought to support this important initiative.